The Trek to the West
by mcdoomburger
Summary: See if your submitted OC's have the nerve, determination, and strength to survive a trip from the zombie infested east to the western safe zone. I need OC submitions
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own World war Z or anything involving it except this story.

A/N: Hello, I have not typed anything for fanfiction in a long time, and this is me stating one thing; I have dropped/stalled both of my other projects. It seems like I just…lost inspiration. This, however, will hopefully stick around for a while. That, however, is your duty.

[As I settle down I have no clue for what exactly to expect. The man across from me refuses to reveal his name and consistently says that what he is about to share has absolutely nothing to do with him.]

_Good afternoon._

"Maybe, but there have definitely been better.

_I heard that you have an account…_

"That's true."

_…Do you feel up to telling it?_

_"_I do, I just need a moment to remember it all. It started in the east, you know, the area people thought no one had a chance of surviving. Well, I heard that a few brave souls did make it, although they were but a fraction of their original size. They made that trek through the wilderness, and this is their story, not mine…

Short beginning, aye? Well, this is where _you, _the reader, come in. None of the characters will be my own, excluding one, and trust me, he _**definitely**_ won't be in the limelight. Submit your OC's and I will make a new chapter. Deal? Deal.

A submission should look like this:

Name:

Personality:

Appearance:

Best trait:

Worst trait:

Weapon of choice:

History:

Also, be free to PM me any traits about your character that you would like to keep from general public until an opportune time. For example, if the person is a kleptomaniac or perhaps a bandit spy, you will probably want to PM that.

Hope to see you review soon!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: It has been a while (albeit a short while) since I've updated. Enough of me, though, I just want to take a moment to thank all of submitters so far: MiniFruitbat for submitting Isabel and a few of your minor characters from your story, Earthdude for Grant and his grudges, Goat13 or whatever your online name may be for Jake and his protectiveness of his property, Insert name here for Allen and his common sense (gods know it is lacking in zombie stories), Sons of Napalm for the awesome trio of Josiah, Kaida, and Saxen, and finally DragonLoverss for Cyril and his irritating personality. Thanks for all the help! (To all other readers, I advise the rest of you only submit one person, otherwise it will be very hard to keep track of all of the characters. If you are the one who asked me the question if you can submit another person, I advise you to do it damn quick. Thanks in advance.)

(General POV)

About thirty miles south of Binghamton (NY) there was a clearing which contained a indiscernible number of people, all of whom attempting to find out another poor soul they could relate to. In front of this crowd stood a young man whose name was Steven, and to his back was a small ravine.

"People, please listen!" As the crowd gradually calmed down Steven continued his speech, emphasizing every word with a jerk of his right hand which happened to be grasping a torch.

"I have two incredible things to report. First, the dead have risen—". The remainder of his statement was broken when a person by the name of Jake Thorns shouted out "No shit, Sherlock!" This statement alone was humorous enough for several people to bust out laughing, which in turn made the crowd unruly again for several expensive minutes.

"Yes, yes, quite humorous. Anyway, we should not be heading north."

The reaction to this statement was incredible, the silence almost palpable. This was unexpected, to say the least.

"What makes you say that?" questioned a voice belonging to a teen whose given name was Allen, "We're in New York already, why should we pack our bags and leave the closest thing we have to safety?

"Because, the U.S'. soldiers have stationed themselves in the west, making that the safest area in about the entire U.S. Also, think about how many people there are already in the north. The only way that some of them will survive is if they start going cannibal. Besides—"

This time, Steven did not have the fortune of being interrupted by a person. As several fetid hand gripped his shoulders, chest, and throat he had time to only rasp "Oh shit", before the hands dragged him backward. His hands flicked out, as if begging for help causing the small torch in his hand to fly forward, directly into an unfortunately parked Porsche Carrera.

(Jake's POV)

He was starting to get pissed with the shady looking people staring at his car. A few of them even tried to touch his automobile, and quite simply, they looked more likely to commit grand theft auto then to merely gaze at his beautiful Porsche.

Jake was dividing his attention between listening to the speaker and keeping potential car thieves away and he barely heard the phrase 'the dead have risen'. Of course, he had to make fun of that comment or someone else would, and with a smile shouted out "No shit, Sherlock!".

Jake was still grinning when he turned around to find that a sub-group of three staring at him. From what he could tell, two of them looked related in an older brother, younger sister way, while the third was constantly trying to bring up a conversation with someone, be it stranger or friend.

"Yes, peons that will never be better than me, what do you want?" stating the question in such a pseudo-serious manner that they smiled.

Suddenly all hell broke loose. Jake heard the words 'oh shit' before in the zombie outbreak to find that they were normally a herald of doom. He quickly turned around to find that not only was his car on fire, but that the speaker had also been grabbed by zombies. He started to run toward the young male before remembering that all his weapons were still in his inferno of a car

"Damnit all to hell!" he bellowed before twisting around, this time for his weapons. He thrust both of his hands in the car, pulled out his twin 1911s and found that he now had to travel near the ravine just to see the Zs that had but a few minutes ago been so visible. Cursing, he went to the ravine.

(Josiah, Kaida, Saxen POV)

"You know, it is going to be hilarious to see you swing that pole arm around." stated Josiah matter-of-factly.

"I like medieval weapons," said the 14 year old Kaida. "Besides, I always have two daggers if the going gets rough."

"Aye," said Saxen, "but you know as well as anyone else that you, quite simply, suck when it comes to killing Zed heads. Not for lack of trying, of course!" He said the last sentence quickly because it was somewhat of a sore point for Kaida that she was a poor fighter.

"Anyway," said Josiah, "I saw this Porsche on the way here, and it looked absolutely loaded. I think I even saw a Benelli in there. Oh, and Kaida; who gave you that bar of chocolate?"

"Someone called Allen."

"Oh. Well, let's go look at that Porsche, shall we?"

On Josiah's beckoning the small band of friends neared the Porsche and its owner. The fellow made a small joke at the expense of them but it lacked the seriousness to actually be insulting them, and they smiled. Or, rather, Josiah and Kaida smiled. Saxen was so busy trying to talk to people that he might have been grinning at the expense of someone else.

Suddenly, the group turned to find that the speaker had managed to be gripped by several zombies. They were still running toward him when, as if in slow motion, Steven was pulled over the edge of the ravine, flinging out his hands in a movement that only managed to set fire to the car.

Josiah, turning his head slightly to watch the now burning Porsche, felt a strong urge to just stop and watch the burning wreckage. He loved fire; he loved burning, incinerating, just about anything so long as fire was involved. But Josiah shook off the feeling and continued on his path toward the fallen speaker. There would be time to watch the burning later.

(Allen POV)

As soon as Allen heard the voice in the audience shout 'No shit, Sherlock' he realized that some jackass was going and preventing the spread of useful information. He, at that point, decided to make it his mission to quiet the crowd as much as possible.

As he passed several people he became conscious of the fact he was being watched. He quickly located the person who was staring at him and found his sister gazing at him. No, not his sister, but another 14 year old girl, similar enough to fool him temporarily, but different enough to recognize his mistake in less than a second.

Still, he liked kids (in a completely non—disturbing way). Smiling, he reached into his backpack and pulled out the last Hershey bar he had and handed it to the girl.

"Here. My name's Allen. You look hungry."

"Thanks. I better get back to my brother."

He was still smiling when he heard from the speaker that they were going the wrong direction. To Allen, this was the equivalent of heresy. His family might have gone to gone to the north and here was this, this bastard that was saying 'Nope, the north is a not very safe, safe zone.' Of course, he loved his siblings, but he was irritated when his family took him for dead on face value, just because his school was attacked and wanted to give them earful when he met them again.

He refrained from saying all this when he asked his question, however; it may make more people dislike him more than like him.

"What makes you say that? We're in New York already, why should we pack our bags and leave the closest thing we have to safety?"

The response was good enough for Allen to accept, and he was almost off guard when Steven was grabbed. Shouting wordlessly, he slipped his shotgun from his back and sprinted toward the ravine, barely noticing the burning car in his haste.

(General POV)

Five people definitely sprinted toward the ravine; more may have been following but Allen, Jake, Josiah, Saxen, and Kaida were definitely in the lead. As they reached the dip in the earth they had enough time to see a completely unharmed Steven become a grievously harmed Steven in less than half a second. There were three zombies; two of them were large men, the third a child that looked to be about nine. One was holding Steven's hands and the child had taken a bite out of Stevens shoulder. On closer inspection it was obvious how they had managed to grab Steven unawares. All three were missing most of their throats, thus being unable to produce the tell tale moan.

Steven, of course, was screaming wildly. The bite mark was obvious, and he knew, without a doubt, that he was as good as dead.

Of course, Steven _was_ screaming wildly. One of the larger ghouls had managed to rip his jaw clean off with a well placed bite moments later.

At that point, the zed heads were as good as dead. They were still bent over Steven when Kaida tried to kill them with her halberd, having to swing it several times before actually connecting with a zombies head. As she smiled at the fact that she had killed a zombie the others were trying to decide how the other two should be killed.

"We can't shoot the zombies, damnit!" hissed Allen

"Why the hell not?!" murmured Jake angrily

"It might bring an entire horde on us."

It was eventually settled that Saxen and Josiah were given the honor of killing the other two Z's, and quickly, too.

"Should we burn them?" asked Josiah, perhaps too eagerly, to the rest of the group.

"Maybe we should focus on the important facts, you know, like if we should go west?" replied the rest of the group "and who should tell the crowd our decision, and finally, we should, you know, kill Steven before he reanimates."

They slowly thought about everything until they reached an uncontested conclusion. Steven was right to urge them west, and west they would go. Even the crowd of people, tired from their travels decided that the west probably held more opportunity than the north. Besides, most of them did not want to eat moose burgers anytime soon.

A/N: Hello people. Damn, this chapter took an eternity. Anyway, I want you to know that even if your person was not used this chapter does not mean that they will not be used in the future. On a special side note, could you guy answer a question for me in your reviews? I want to know if you think I should continue using the somewhat tedious POV's per character or if I should stick with a general POV through and through. On one final note I want to say that I am appreciative but I must decline the offer of a Beta for this story. I am honored, but I have some friends that check for mistakes, and I think they feel useless if they don't check over my stories. Send some Review love, please.


	3. Supply run Pt1

Disclaimer: I own nuffin related to WWZ.

AN: Hello, my readers, I wish to start off by saying that I am deeply sorry for the delay, and that I wish to make it up to you (except YOU! Just kidding, people). However, I must say, with some regret, that this will be the last Trek to the West chapter I will be doing for a while. I realize that that may irritate some of you and I'm sorry, but I simply can't write multiple OC stories. This chapter is really just a fluke, and I know, as do you, that incomplete is better than piss-poor literature. However, all is not lost. I will be polishing my writing and someday I will return to finish this. I understand if you are displeased, but I am disappointed enough in myself without flames. Goodbye, until I sharpen my multi-OC skills (as well as my machete), and good luck.

"_It was a week of terrible weather. Quite often a survivor would develop a fever or chill that had to be treated with what little antibiotics there were left. Unfortunately for the travelers had neglected to find a decent (read: __any__) doctors and were devouring the medicines at an atrocious velocity to treat 3__rd__ rate illnesses"._

"It must have been … difficult."

_"You have no idea."_

"Was it supply shortages that drove them to loot from Charleston, WV?

_"Yup, and that foolish action is what initiated the long trend of zombie related deaths. It didn't exactly help that they were actually dividing their forces before entering."_

_"You ever see that movie by the producer, uh, __Hero City__?"_

"Of course"

_"What some of these people did would have put the bastard 'heroes' in a good light, and some people, much fewer, did some acts that make me believe humanity can actually exist as a force for good."_

"Whenever you are ready to start…"

"_I'm ready now."_

"Look, let's just find some meds and get out of here ASAP" stated Allen. "This trip was probably a stupid idea."

"We must first complete the primary objective" declared Patrick.

"Where the hell did you learn this primary, secondary objective stuff, anyway?" questioned Jake.

"Marine code"

"You've said that to every question I've asked!" Jake then examined Patrick. "Have you been programmed?"

Struggling to keep a straight face, the reply was a stoic "Marine code".

The then silent Saxen and Kaida, and even Allen, broke into muffled laughter.

It had been slow, traveling SW on Brooks Street, but the laughing stopped when they stopped at Cleveland Plant and Flower.

"Some people probably would have set up station here, to set up supplies due to the closeness of the local hospital" murmured Allen.

"Then what are we waiting for" interjected Saxen loudly.

"There may be Zom-"

"There will be Zombies anyway," said Patrick, who continued with "let's just draw straws on who has to kick down the door."

In the end, it was Saxen who was faced with getting the entrance open. He swiftly smashed his foot into the door, above the handle, took a step back to avoid any potential zombies, and had his chest turned to a pulpy red mess from the custom-made trap (a 12 gauge zip-gun). The sudden termination of life was terrifying for the four who had survived Saxen, but what was even more ghastly was the fact that the Charleston Area Medical Center-General, just one block to the south, had come alive with moans.

Zack was coming.

"Seriously, I'm not kidding!" said Grant, stumbling over one of the many felled fences in Sentz Street. .

"Come on, you expect me to seriously believe you survived, for two weeks, I might add, at a friggin' Wildlife Research facility in _New Jersey?_" grumbled Josiah, oblivious to Saxen's impending demise a block away.

"Yep, cause it's true." Then, glancing around, he noticed the silent third member of the group.

"Hey, how are you doing?"

Isabel, for that is the third and last member of this group, simply glared at Grant, and turned away while still smoking.

Slightly angered, Grant reached over to tap her shoulder.

"Stop acting like a -!" the rest of his comment had been cut short when Isabel spun around, grabbed his arm with her cigarette hand, slapped her other hand over his mouth so he couldn't shout, and proceeded to give him a cigarette burn three inches below the wrist of the captured hand.

She then leaned in, hissed "Leave me alone," and released him.

"You son of a bitc-"and for the second time Grant was interrupted, but this time with gunfire.

When the moaning started, Josiah's blood went cold. He had trusted his sister to his friend, but when Zack rolls around you want to be able to protect your family yourself. He shouted at his bickering allies that, "I need to get to my family NOW, GOD-DAMMIT" and away he went, with two partners in close pursuit.

Meanwhile, in the dilapidated Smih (the 't' had fallen off long before the dead rose) Floor Covering distributors, a group of LaMOEs had set up shop.

"Grubbs up!" shouted Fuzz to his fellow survivors.

"Jesus, Fuzz, how the hell do you make things taste this damn good without a stove?" Jagger asked.

Riley paid his compliments to the chef in a _very_ old fashioned way. "Vos venit , vos visum , vos crustulum valde puteus**"**

Alex Griffin, who was seated across from Riley, had on his best WTF face.

"Riley, what the hell was that gibberish?"

"It's Latin, Alex"

"Isn't that a dead language?" asked Cyril, the aficionado of irritation.

"Lemme ask you this Cyril. If I were to bash something that you invested about, oh, three years of life into, how would you feel? Back me up Michael."

"I don't know, I don't want make any enemies."

At that point the other four stared at Michael.

"Dude, we're all just messing around, no need to turn back into turtle-Michael."

"Nice way to kill my buzz, man," said Alex, laughingly.

However, the peaceful moment was not to last. Suddenly, a blast of sound rippled into the safe-house.

"Probably just a dumbass zombie that walked into my trap," muttered Alex.

Regardless, Cyril was climbing the steps up to the 2nd story windows two at a time. He swiftly looked out the window to find zombies pouring out of the hospital, zombies chasing a group of four, and zombies devouring the body of a young man by the doorway of the LaMOEs' emergency stash in the Cleveland Plant and Flower shop.

"What is it?" shouted one of Cyril's comrades.

Raiders, thought Cyril, or frightened survivors, and both are just as dangerous as the other.

"We," said Cyril slowly,"need help some people now."

"You mean…"

"Yes, there are some more survivors."

At least, thought Cyril, I hope there will be when we get there.

For the first twenty seconds there was pandemonium, enabling Zack to cut off both sides of the street. Then Allen grabbed Kaida and sprinted into the flower shop, with Patrick and Jack in close pursuit. Allen slipped for a moment and felt a fresh wave of pain flow through his arm. He then scrambled onto his feet and continued running. They were soon greeted with an enormous portcullis into the parking lot, which, thankfully, had a massive fence surrounding it. Unfortunately, this same self fence was blocking the only safe way out. Zack erupted from the doorway and converged on the group of three. Death was imminent.

Then Allen saw Josiah on the other side of the fence, sprinting towards them.

Josiah wouldn't have run this fast for anyone else. Saxen could handle some Zack, but Kaida was all thumbs when it came to self defense. Behind him, he could hear Grant panting to keep up, and couldn't actually sense Isabel, but he noticed this in the same way a man would notice another's misfortune. Josiah's only drive was to find his sister and friend, and get the hell out of dodge. When he finally found her, on the other side of the ten foot fence, he doubled his pace. There was no way he was going to let her die.

As Allen watched Josiah nearly slam into the fence, he picked up Kaida and threw her over the fence for both Josiah and Grant to catch. Allen then looked at Patrick, and Patrick looked at Jake, who looked at Allen.

Allen nodded his head at the fence and said, "You two should start climbing."

"Why should I be first?" asked Patrick indignently

"Yes, why should _he_ be first," asked Jake jokingly. "I mean, I may have better luck in repopulating the planet!"

Allen smiled, and showed Patrick and Jake his arm, without even making a lull in the firing.

"Some bastard placed nails on the floor."

"And?"

"They were bloody, probably because Zack stepped on them."

"_Oh shit!"_

"Thank you, Jake, for the peace of mind. Now, goodbye."

Isabel had seen the horde, and was damn certain that she would not risk her life for some stranger's kid sister.

She had quietly turned around and had rounded back to the meeting spot (Spring Hill Cemetery), where with her pale skin, could easily fit in with the rest of the feverish and ill. She would, however, have to make certain that she was not paired up with those two again. She may have burned those bridges, but in the end, she had come back alive.

Even as he killed the Zed-heads he had misgivings on his situation. Allen had run out of shells and was reduced to using his 1911. With the others gone, his only option was to fight, and hope to gain a victory, however pyrrhic it may be to him.

He knew. He knew this situation would only be complete with his death. He knew, even before the teeth sunk into his arm he would die. Even as he screamed wordless defiance, he knew.

This… was … the end…

IOIOIOIOIOI

End of part one

OIOIOIOIOIO

A/N: Hey again! I just wish to give a time frame for the next chapter. It will probably be in October-November. For those of you who want to know what I will be doing, I will be updating my other stories as well as doing some severe retyping in my first story (seriously, when I'm done with it, it won't even look the same. So, I'm going to delete the original and work on the actual mechanics of the tale.) Send some review love, and don't forget about me!


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